Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The Handwriting Is on the Wall

Our posting of Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk cashing in on the autograph circuit created quite a stir. In the interest of fairness, there are others up to such nefarious acts. Let's start with Texas' Vince Young, left, who last month appeared at the Tristar show in his hometown of Houston. For only $79, fans were able to get Young's signature on one item (no discount for two or more). For $99, they were able to get their picture taken with Young. "It's not really about the pay," said Young, who indicated the money would go "toward different things I've got set up for the community and foundations." Excuse us Vince, but our B.S. meter just went off and we have to reset it. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, center, spends considerable time on his penmanship. In fact, this Friday you can join the coach and several members of the 2002 national championship team at the Columbus Destroyers game against the dreaded Arizona Rattlers. The group will be available for a 75-minute autograph session before kickoff. Of course, all of this is linked on Tressel's homepage. Penn State fans can mark their calendars for March 31. Michael Robinson will be in Scranton to cash in. A real bargain will be the autographed ticket and No. 12 jersey for only $75. If you want to step it up a notch, you can get an NFL leather game ball, signed by Robinson, for $90. Now we are well aware many items find their way to eBay and none of this violates NCAA rules, but all of this is disturbing to say the least. And how much of this income actually gets reported to the IRS? Sorry, but this stinks (some registration).

6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

As a side note, while Jim Tressel might charge people for his autograph, this certainly isn't the practice with Joe Paterno. Autograph requests are routinely sent to the football office (currently a huge back log), and all autographs are done for free. He also signs autographs whenever presented to him in public (some exceptions can be noted -- like when he's with his family eating dinner). So let's call that another example (in addition to recruiting violations, etc.) of how Tressel is not even in the same class as JoePa.

what's the big deal? all of the players involved are done playing for their schools, as they become "pros" the minute the season is over. they might as well try and cash out while they can before they bust out of the league (a la clarett).

Agreed, there is no story on the autographs. It's commonplace for potential high draft picks and departing seniors who were fan favorites-----------------------------Elsewhere, for anon above, there is no need to for an asterisk for OSU's 2002 NC. What didn't get called in regulation was egregious and enabled the OT's to happen altogether.

Yeah, considering that everyone involved in college football cashes in on an obscene amount of money except for the players who participate in one of the most violent and dangerous activities that is legal in this country, good for Hawk, Young, and anyone else who figures out a way to get a small fraction of what they deserve.

And giving an elite football player an academic scholarship that holds virtually no value to them isn't exactly fair compensation. It's like giving an eskimo an air conditioner.